by Bailey Dark
And I breathed deeply into her back and slowly, slowly, rolled out of and off her, pulling her around and into my arms, gathering her head into my chest and holding her tightly. She laid her cheek on my chest. Her heartbeat was so rapid I thought it might burst, but I realized it just matched mine.
“That was…” she said.
“That was…” I said.
She held up the ring hand, the coils winding, seemingly alive carbon gleam flashing in the lightning as the storm resumed. She twisted it over and over and breathed out slowly.
“That was something else, for sure.”
We lay in the storm’s rage for some more moments, just trying to pace each other’s breathing.
“Vania?” I asked. “I’m trusting you, okay? Don’t break it.”
"I won't, Jase. I'm trusting you, too. And don't worry. I am still a good soldier and will be your good soldier for as long as this war lasts. No question there. I know my place."
I looked at her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. I am glad that she said that, but I don’t know her place…
“What is this ring, Jase? Do I need to be worried?”
“Well, I don’t understand fully the connection we have, but I can tell you, it will intensify telekinesis, as you can tell, but it’s really just focusing power that already exists. You have that power within you already. You just haven’t had the training.”
"So, what does that mean?"
“It means you’re someone to be feared, Vania.”
“Feared?”
“Absolutely.”
“By whom?”
By me…
“By Tarsine and his troops.” I rolled away from her. “Let’s get moving. We really should take advantage of the storm. And I need to check in with Kajo and my Trio.”
She nodded and started putting her clothes back on.
The storm traced her silhouette like a divine goddess, and I had to force myself to look away. My heart urged me to hold her again and to never leave this cavern… But I could feel the anxious troops below me, waiting for my orders and demanding my authority.
This Earthling was frightening, indeed.
Thirteen
Jase
“What else have we learned?” I signaled for the next one of Tarsine’s soldiers to be brought forward as the third of the unconscious men was taken away. The last two were women. I was sure they would break just as easily. These salt hills were perfect. We could read their minds within the salt hills, but none of their telepathic cries for help would reach outside. We could inflict whatever pain we wanted, but there was no help coming for them…
And still, the storm raged outside. I was putting a 30 minute limit on the remainder of our interrogation attempts. It was getting close to the rendezvous time formerly agreed upon by the four deployed Spec Ops teams. They were all required to report back to their transports after five hours of searching, in order to receive an update on the search. Hopefully, I would have been found by then. Thankfully: I had been, by Axis and his Seawards.
“Tarsine is sending incredible numbers to assault our Spec Ops teams. Somehow he knows of our four teams out here. He knows that the Trio is out here as well. He knows that there were a few survivors who escaped with a stolen Bordash speeder, led by your Trios. The Bordash will be combing the hills.”
“But, they won’t be searching until the rain stops, right? Praise be to their gods, and all that.”
“I don’t know, he sent out two teams of his Seven units already, seeking out myself and the Earthling. What’s to say he won’t send more?”
“Burns beer and wages.”
“What was that? What did she say?”
Cassala squeezed a little more on the IV bag of blotin serum, an inhibition-lifter. “He doesn't care for the gods. He is giving us burns beer and wages. Or he threatens us. But we must take you alive. You and the Trios. He wants the Trios alive. For his stables. Because the Trios are cows.” The Bordash woman giggled, and her eyes rolled back in her head, over-drugged.
Cassala looked at LeiLei. Axis and I grinned and couldn’t help laughing, but jumped forward to stop the two women as they moved to hit the soldier for her insult.
“Remember, the Bordash are farmers. Maybe cows are revered…”
“Screw you, Alpha. With all due respect,” Cassala said sharply.
Axis stopped laughing and tapped his chin, turning back to me. “Sounds like they are being given increased wages and whatever burns beer is to go out in this storm, searching for you. Guess he wants you alive, though. If he thinks the women are cows, I wonder what that makes you…?”
I pretended to swing at him, and he ducked out of the way quickly, tossing a geode light in my direction, which I dodged, but which hit Vania in the chest as she crawled out of the tunnel.
"Thanks a lot," she grumbled as she got to her feet. She winked at me, and I found that the most charming, most disarming, most genuinely adorable act she could have done, a bit of luminescent sparkle of dirt splashed onto her face. "Looks like you guys take interrogations seriously."
“I think we have what we need.”
“Did you ask him if they have moved to intercept your troops from the North yet?”
“Yes. They are more worried about capturing me right now.”
“Good, doesn’t that mean the troops from Emerona can shift direction and take him from the south?”
“Exactly.”
“What about King Kajo?”
Axis stepped forward as if Vania had said something threatening.
“Are you questioning Alpha’s skills as a leader?”
"No, not at all." Vania pushed around him, and I moved backward, frowning, but secretly smiling inside, enjoying the chase as Axis kept himself in between myself and my Earthling lover. "But, I think he needs to follow up on the Eastern lands. The Delks are coming from that side, right? Capital City could descend and sweep up that Clan before they come to the Bordash aid against the Emerona troops we have on the way. Our troops who should be here within the hour, I think."
“That’s about right.”
Everyone was quiet. It was a good plan.
"We would need a fast speeder and a good pilot, to get back to Capital, or to get far enough away from interception range to send the hail for help to Kajo. I'm sure Tarsine is monitoring any waves toward Capital." Axis was nodding as he spoke, moving aside as if Vania's wise words gave her permission for her to approach me now.
“Aimer stole a speeder to save all of us from the Bordash. She left us to meet the teams and give directions when the four Twelve teams split ways. She is with the Ironhead team right now, to the north of the Tarsine camp. She is the best pilot. She can make it. We just have to get her the word.”
“All right. Let’s see if there’s anything else we need from these soldiers, anything else they want to talk about, and then get us back to your ship to talk to the others.” I moved around Axis and swept Vania into a hug, touching the ring on her left hand, quivering so strongly that it made me shut my eyes a moment and have a sharp intake of breath.
Vania smiled up at me and squeezed my hand. I winked at her this time, and she smiled even bigger. My soldiers averted their eyes as I smacked her ass. I didn't care if they were uncomfortable. The happiness in my heart couldn't be touched by the anger in their eyes. As soon as we leave this cave, I thought… As soon as we leave this cave and I have to be on the battlefield again, I will buckle down. After all, I have to defend my throne. There is an angry, monster of an asshole out there wanting to strip everything I care about away from me.
But, now I have something else… Something that tingles and tangles my heart into a dream I didn’t even know I could have…
I sighed as I caught Cassala and LeiLei glaring at me. I rolled my eyes.
I am still an Alpha Warlord. I am also just incredibly infatuated with an alien Earthling warrior woman who is somehow making me forget why we are even out here.
My heart suddenly skipp
ed a beat. There is no way she is a spy for Tarsine, right…?
No. Of course not. It was Tarsine’s father that practically tore her to shreds. Only Kajo’s magic saved her.
And now, she is mine…
Fourteen
Aimer
There was nothing in this world that I liked about the Bordash. Not their food, their dancing, their music, their method of fighting, their dress. But, I had truly started to fall in love with this speeder. It said Skylark on the side, but, I called her Larkie and Larkie, and I were having quite the time weaving through the salt hills and threading through the limestone bluffs of the Wazuun River toward Capital City and King Kajo's ready and waiting troops.
I wouldn’t need to fly all the way to Capital, even though I was certain I could make it in less than half a day in this thing. She was fast. I could make her faster… I just needed to get out of the range of Bordash scanners. That would be about an hour’s flight at top speed.
Alpha Jase was safe with the Seawards and Commander Axis. He had been found; really, he had found the Spec Ops team. He had been at the salt caves not far from our crash site, just like we thought. It was why I had assigned Axis the role of heading that way. I wanted to make sure the best was there to greet him, knowing that there was no way Alpha would just rest in hiding. I knew he would be reveling in a solo mission, outside in the storm, away from anyone else, away from protection… My fingers tightened around the stick, and I shook my head. Didn’t he know he needed to stay safe?
And now it seemed he was concerned with keeping the Earthling safe… Cassala and LeiLei had managed to sneak the comms with me for a while, about the attack, yes, but also about their concerns for our Alpha’s infatuation with the Earthling. There was nothing we could do about it. He would choose who he would choose. And it sounded like they were quite connected. She was wearing his family’s ring. If she could last underneath all the power that thing waged, maybe none of us had been giving her enough credit.
Besides, I liked her.
I smiled into the sunny skies ahead of me, the storm cleared out behind me, the last echoes of thunder fading in the rear. Vania had spirit. She really had thought she would best me in our little scuffle, and I didn’t doubt that she would put me through my strongest punches. It was why I knew I needed to take her by surprise and grant her no quarter in that first duel she and I had had, what seemed so long ago, but was really only two days before. I needed to make a point to her, and I definitely had. I looked forward to our next sparring match and hoped there would be many.
I warned Cassala and LeiLei to keep an open mind about the Earthling or risk Jase’s wrath, and no one, no one, wanted to be on the receiving end of that… Our Alpha was one of the most skilled telekinetic warriors there was… It was a gift and a curse. The world would bend over and obey him if it could. He could move it off its axis if he was angry enough, I believed. I swear I had seen the stars flicker because of his anger…
But, now, LeiLei and Cassala said he was smiling and joking around with Axis as if he weren't even concerned about Tarsine. I would take goofy, lighthearted Jase any day because I knew on the battlefield there was no one that would stop him…
I swung sharply around a boulder and narrowly avoided a low bridge of rock, almost brushing the cockpit as I whizzed by, and then I was gone, whisking up water from the river on the narrows, flying further along, almost into radio range of the Capital and close enough to send the message my Alpha had composed.
Jase had told me that he had already requested Kajo have troops standing by to take on the Delk Clan in the East. It would be a battle on many fronts, covering a lot of land. But, then, there was a lot of land at stake. This wasn’t just to protect all the Emerona Empire of Jase’s, it was also to gather into Kajo’s Empire everything already ruled by the Bordash, and, potentially, the Delks.
To the victors would go the spoils…
The message was simple: get your ass in gear and get over here. Just said a little more diplomatically to the Beast King.
Then I would need to get back just as quickly. The storm was set to rage for another day. I was looking forward to fighting in its wild frenzy. We were going to pick off Tarsine's tents as much as possible, and they would be quick to rouse to arms if they weren't already spread out searching for Jase. All of our troops from Emerona would be there by the time I got back from delivering my message, that was for sure. There would be a few hundred of our best men and women meeting Tarsine's.
I licked my lips, and my heart rate picked up imagining the clashing of blades and the dodging of telekinetically thrown knives racing around the battlefield. I added in rain and mud and lightning and thunder to my imagination and felt the glory and danger and desire racing through my veins.
I picked up the pace even more.
I had to hurry: I didn’t want to miss the battle.
Fifteen
Vania
I walked beside Axis’s Bravo leader, Cartari, as we made our way back to the transports. He was clearly a clown and goofball, a good match for Axis with his more severe manner of handing down discipline and orders. We practiced dashing the raindrops aside as we walked through them, working on my telekinetic Will, and I knew it was great preparation for the fight. He warned me that the fight with the Bordash would be swift and overwhelming, blades, fire, weaponry, and Willpower flying everywhere. You couldn’t know where every fired particle was coming from, you just had to keep your shielding abilities up and try to penetrate theirs.
I whispered a bit of Willpower into my left hand and struck aside a path of rain with the wind’s blow and wiped aside an entire dry patch for me to walk through, marveling at the power within me now. But, I also winced, because, if I took off the ring, would that power still be there? Jase said it was, that the ring just focused it… but… What was I without it, really? I wouldn't dare to try until after the fight. Better to use all the tools I had at hand… Quite literally.
My leg felt much better, but I knew I would have to prove myself before they let me on the battlefield. I had heard Cassala and LeiLei whispering about it. I hoped that the way of proving myself was that I got to spar with them. Finally… My quick spat with Aimer had been just enough to whet my appetite for beating one, or both, or all of the Trio. I knew I could do it.
I wanted Jase to see me do it.
We crept through the thunder, lightning, wind, and rain, just 16 dark shadows floating 5 prisoners-of-war against white salt hills. I hoped the Bordash had no scouts in the area. We wound our way toward the Wazuun River and soon were upon their transport, ducked back into a cavern, hidden by scraggly brush and trees. It was a low-flying, streamlined, battle vessel, its bright metal and many guns flashing intimidation in the cracks of lightning. It was much more armored than the one we had crashed in before.
We left the POWs outside, under guard, and it was still a little crowded within the aircraft, but much dryer and warmer. Cartari helped me ring the rain out of my clothes with telekinesis. “Marvelous!” I exclaimed. Doing laundry would never be the same.
Axis and Jase were at the control panels, fingers whipping over the screens with messages to the other Spec Ops units. It was the agreed-upon hour. We had just made it. Everyone would be so happy to hear of their leader's safety. I looked at him and couldn't help but smile. I tried to hide it, but it tugged at my lips, in the same way, tiny tendrils of desire wrapped around my heart and butterflies swept up through my stomach and flurried in my throat. My left hand buzzed, and those tingles shivered through my blood. Am I always going to want him this much…? How long is “always” going to be for us? Maybe just for “now.” I could die today. We still have a battle to get through.
That made me smile even a little bit more, but for different reasons. I touched the hilt of my dagger and its grip was soothing in my hand; I was ready. I wasn’t nervous or scared. I was eager. I had been training for this.
Granted, I looked at Cassala and LeiLei where they spoke at another pa
nel and typed commands to Emerona troops, I had only been training for six months and these ladies had been training most of their lives, but I felt strong, sure, and ready.
“The troops are here.” Jase was suddenly beside me. “We are going to attack Tarsine’s tents. We will be waiting here for fifteen minutes and then heading that way in this transport, matching the pace with everyone else.”
“What will we do for those thirty minutes?”
“Well, for the first couple of those minutes, you will be fighting Cassala.”
Jase gestured toward his Trio Commander. She had whipped off her cloak and was standing at the ready. She unsheathed her blades and tossed them down, telekinetically, so they all landed in a straight pile on her cloak. She kept only her dagger.
“Not to the death, please, Cassala,” Jase said, winking at me. I gulped but managed to wink back, asserting a cocky grin as I took off my cloak and tossed my throwing knives down with the same telekinetic precision as Cassala had displayed.
The rest of the Seawards moved to the sides of the main cabin, to give us plenty of room for our sparring match. We stepped into each other and tapped daggers ceremoniously. Cassala's face was blank, bored, even. Her free hand hung loose at her side. I mimicked her but kept my palm toward her.
She stepped into me, harsh and fast, her dagger a burst of speed whipped in toward my chest and then upward toward my face, then slashing down again. I deflected it easily, crossing it with my own, pushing it away, sidestepping out of her reach, and before she could press again, I spun away and with my open palm blasted her with the telekinetic wind I had been using from Jase's ring.
Cassala went flying backward, catching herself before she fell only by leveling out her own telekinetic power and catching herself before she hit the floors. She bounced back toward me and flew through the air, dagger outstretched. I thrust the wind at her again and slammed her sideways into the wall.
